At GDC 2014, Rocksteady unveiled the next-gen Batman: Arkham Knight with a hands-off demo that began with the evacuation of Gotham City.

Scarecrow, stepping up to fill the role of lead villain in the wake of Arkham City, has threatened the entire city of Gotham with a WMD-grade fear gas bomb.

The massive bomb threat raises the stakes and opens up the entirety of Gotham as Batman tries to hunt Scarecrow down, but it's somewhat disappointing to see Rocksteady use the evacuation as a cop out to fill the streets of Gotham with thugs rather than incorporating civilians to give Gotham the feeling of a living city.

Right off the bat, brand marketing producer Dax Ginn made the bold claim that Arkham Knight will be "all about the vertical gameplay we were able to develop on next-gen."

That verticality takes the form of far taller skyscrapers than in past Arkham games, allowing Batman even more dramatic dives from rooftops and more room to glide and grapple across the skyline.

While Batman's aerial maneuvers appear to be mostly unchanged from Arkham City, Batman can now also utilize more gadgets while soaring through the skies like raining batarangs on enemies or using his zipline between any two buildings to create an impromptu perch.

But before too long, Dax Ginn wanted us to meet one of the new stars of Arkham Knight, excitedly exclaiming that the game is really "all about the Batmobile."

Gliding on Batman's cape is still your primary way to get around Gotham

The Batmobile is quite the beastly machine in Arkham Knight, with a design that falls somewhere in the middle of what is seen in the comics and the military-grade vehicle from Christopher Nolan's Batman film trilogy.

From watching the hands-off demo, there was the sense that the Batmobile controls almost more like a character than a car, capable of quick, physics-defying turns that should make the streets of Gotham relatively easy to navigate.

It also helps that Gotham City is selectively destructible in Arkham Knight, with certain walls, fences and columns crumbling under the Batmobile to open side streets and new routes through the city.

You may have noticed that Ginn said that Arkham Knight all about both verticality and the Batmobile, two methods of transportation that seem to be at odds with one another.

The idea seems to be that players can choose their preferred mode of travel, either climbing up and gliding from the nearest building or calling the Batmobile with the press of a button at any time.

With a Gotham to explore that is five times larger than what players saw in Arkham City, that is a lot of real estate to cover from multiple vantage points.

The question is how well Rocksteady will balance city traversal. The Batmobile has an inherent cool factor to it, but from the brief demo it seems that Batman's signature ride is mostly being utilized for gimmicks so far.

The first mission shown with the Batmobile was to chase down an armored vehicle and knock it off the road to interrogate its driver.

Shortly after that the demo introduced the Riddler with his new brand of challenges in the form of Riddler caves. This particular Riddler cave was a three-lap race track, where Batman could control retractable platforms and walls by clicking the controller's analogue stick.

While it was a bit jarring to see The Riddler testing Batman's car rather than his intellect, after the demo a Rocksteady representative clarified that the Riddler caves won't all use the Batmobile.

The Riddler race track was by far the most interesting part of the demo, perhaps because it represented the only completely new element added to the Arkham series formula.

Of course there are other additions to the Arkham formula, particularly in combat, which are more evolutionary than a revolutionary new mechanic.

For example, Batman can now steal melee weapons from enemies, like baseball bats and clubs, and use those weapons in combat until they break.

Batman also has a new move called the fear takedown, which lets him knock out up to three armed enemies at once through a quick-time event rather than needing to lure each guard away from the group individually like in past games.

After a quick trip to meet up with Oracle, aka Barbara Gordon, in her clock tower headquarters, the demo ended with one final character introduction: the Arkham Knight.

It turns out that the game's title is a reference to this new character created specifically for the game, rather than to the Dark Knight himself.

The Arkham Knight wears an armored black suit similar to Batman's, though sleeker and with a more militaristic flair. Rocksteady refused to say anything more about the Arkham Knight, leaving much unknown about Batman's mysterious new rival.

Overall, Batman: Arkham Knight is shaping up to be a bigger Arkham City, with the option to drive through the streets along with soar through the skies.

Whether that is good or bad news will depend entirely on your preference for the original Arkham Asylum's Metroidvania design, which wasn't even hinted at the demo, or Arkham City's open world.

Whichever way you lean, Batman: Arkham Knight promises to conclude the storyline of what is now being referred to as the "Rocksteady Arkham Trilogy." Sorry Batman: Arkham Origins.

Batman: Arkham Knight will be available on PS4, Xbox One and PC by the end of the year.